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Hey guys

I like the look of the new Eldar Heavy platform kits and fancy getting a squad of 3. But I havn't really used them before, I have experimented with the shadow weaver (think thats what its called, the S6 AP- one) just as an indirect fire annoyance really but am thinking of putting them together with D-Cannons.

I very rarely hear of anyone who uses platforms as one of their heavy support slots, are they any good or a bit of a waste of time? Also what do people think it the best way to arm them and how many in a squad?

I do find that anti-tank seems to be my biggest downfall recently and think 150 points for 3 D-Cannons may help, despite the crap range

They're not worth it, the things you want to kill will avoid your short range. If you want to kill tanks fire dragons and scatter lasers are they way to go.

Really t3 models firing weapons that can be killed by s4 weapons aren't ever going to be good.

Pros- Cheap

Cons-

VibroCannon , Medium range and generallyl weak unless field in 3s even then its still ap-
D Cannon , Most destructive of the variant , range = G24" lol...
Shadow Weaver , longest range , decent str , blast size is small.

and , they are still.... Guardians. They die to everything and their range isnt helping.

Also they compete with heavy support slots which outshines the platforms.

LunaHound wrote:Pros- Cheap

Cons-

VibroCannon , Medium range and generallyl weak unless field in 3s even then its still ap-
D Cannon , Most destructive of the variant , range = G24" lol...
Shadow Weaver , longest range , decent str , blast size is small.

and , they are still.... Guardians. They die to everything and their range isnt helping.

Also they compete with heavy support slots which outshines the platforms.

Luna's points sum up what I was saying better than I did.

Also, nice new avatar Luna.

LunaHound right but missing one or two points.

VibroCannon ... best fielded in units of 2 you get Str5 and its effectively TL, so 75% chance it will shoot ... it will then auto hit every thing along that 36" line ... New vehicle rules mean it will at best only blow off a weapon on a vehicle. No AP so every one gets a save.

D-Cannon ... Field in any number you like, it will drop a small blast that will wound and kill most things it touches ... Range sucks. (oh and is good Vs all vehicles ... but any tank that close, is too close)

Shadow Weaver ... This is the one i use the most ... Str6 48" blast. No AP so every one gets a save. Very very cheap ... has saved me several times from being over run by nids and IG.

All these weapons do not require LOS and can have there BS boosted by using a Warlock (not useful when fire via guess range)

Main reason you never see these is the Fire prism. It can move up to 12" ... has great range and is just as effective (more so against vehicles)

How do you plan on hunting tanks with a range of 24"

I didn't realise the d-cannon doesn't need line of site, I think thats what I will go with. I can see that they are not as effective as other options but like to mix my list up a lot and want at least one unit of every option in the codex so will go d-cannons I think.

With the D-Cannon not needing LOS, I assume that no cover saves will be allowed even if the cannon cannot see its target at all, unless they are standing in area terrain?

Agreed with LunaHound and Tri, with the following added:

Prisms are indeed the reason that no one takes support weapons. Even in a foot-only build, Wraithlords or Warwalkers usually take up those slots.

The place where Support Weapons really shine is in Apocalyse, IMO. 9 Shadow Weavers can really clean up hordes, and the D-Cannons' ability to wipe out anything getting into your lines is pretty nifty. And yes, I have 9 Support Platforms. 12, actually. They came in two big eBay buys. I'm really hoping there will be a new Apoc datasheet for massed support weapons that will make them, you know, suck less.

As for specific weapons:

Shadow weavers are decent versus Orks, as they have the potential to hurt both hordes and trukks. If you don't have the points for 2-3 scatterlaser warwalkers, 3 of these will do fairly well. I'd rather take them than vibrocannons, in fact.

D-Cannons make decent vengeance weapons, eliminating troublesome Marine deepstrikers or assault squads pretty handily. I've never used them against the new 'Nids: they might come in handy there.

The problems with support weapons have been pretty well-covered. They were more viable under the 3rd & 4th ed LOS rules, when you could reliably hide out of LOS behind a wood or ruin. If you’ve got something to screen them with, I could conceivably see using a unit of 1 D-Cannon, or 1-2 D-cannons or Shadowweavers, purely because they’re cheap and can abuse bunched-up enemies.

The previous edition Platforms look very yummy

mikeyboyj wrote:I didn't realise the d-cannon doesn't need line of site, I think thats what I will go with. I can see that they are not as effective as other options but like to mix my list up a lot and want at least one unit of every option in the codex so will go d-cannons I think.

With the D-Cannon not needing LOS, I assume that no cover saves will be allowed even if the cannon cannot see its target at all, unless they are standing in area terrain?

Can somebody clear up the rules on cover saves for no LOS targets please. I assume that if you shoot indirectly you cant use BS on the scatter result but they dont get a cover save

The cover save is taken as if the shot originates from the center of the blast, i. e. if there's a low wall between the cannons and the target unit they won't get a cover save from it. Area terrain still works, however, as do Kustom Force Fields.

Cool thanks

More cons than pros.
True line of sight and outflankers make them very vulnerable.
I'd consider them eventually in a (larger) foot slogging Eldar army.

If I've a heavy support slot free I take three Shadow Weaver. At 90pts ... ether you ignore it or send some much more valuable unit after it ... and since i run 2 Fire prisms they're often ignored.

Still i would recommend you getting prism first ...